1. Field
The present invention is directed to a neck, spine and spinal cord support device for a new born baby or infant, and more particularly to a blanket assembly incorporating the support device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The body parts most susceptible to injury in an infant's body are the head, neck, spine and spinal cord, particularly in newborn babies and infants up to 6 months old. To this day there is a possibility that challenges, from learning disabilities to Autism, may be caused from injury to the spinal cord at these early stages in an infant's life. Babies rely on their care takers (e.g., parents) to hold and support their head, spine, neck and spinal cord without jarring them, all the while comforting them, swaddling them, and/or rocking them in their arms, as well as feeding them. A slight jar or jolt can possibly cause short term or long term (e.g., permanent) damage to the spinal cord, causing challenges later on in life for the child, such as learning disabilities and Autism.
New parents and others can struggle to properly hold newborn babies in a way that adequately supports the baby's head, neck, spine and spinal cord, especially when the person has not previously held newborn babies. Proper support to the head, neck, spine and spinal cord of the newborn baby is important and lack of such proper support can result in discomfort and even injury to the baby (e.g., injury to the head or spinal cord of the baby), as discussed above.
Often, people will hold the baby by holding the baby in one arm so that the baby's back (spine and spinal cord) is supported by the forearm and the baby's head and neck is supported between the person's forearm and upper arm. However, this method often does not allow the person the freedom to easily take care of other tasks with their free arm because they either use two arms to hold the baby or are nervous about maintaining proper support for the baby so that they instead opt to put the baby down (e.g., in a crib) before proceeding to handle other tasks.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system for ensuring proper support for the baby's head, neck, spine and spinal cord while being held by a person, and for allowing the person to readily perform other tasks with their free arm while securely holding the baby with their other arm.